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WWE is the biggest professional wrestling company in the world. As such, they make sure to follow regulations and wellness policies to ensure the well-being of their Superstars. In the many years of their existence, the WWE has managed to ensure that they have a reputation for being one of the safest places to compete.
However, despite all the care taken by WWE, the WWE Superstars often find themselves on the wrong side of a badly timed move, or a dangerous spot. In such cases, they were injured, and at least for a time, their careers came to a stand-still.
After all, no matter what people say about WWE at this point, while their results may be fake, the moves they perform are very real and extremely dangerous. There's always a chance that someone may be injured during the performances.
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While injuries are a reality during the match, WWE Superstars have also fallen ill, and the illness has made their careers come to a stop for at least a while.
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The fact that there is a locker room full of talent waiting for the right opportunity to cease makes any injury lay-off period a tough one for a WWE superstar.
In this article, we will be talking about 5 WWE Superstars whose careers were derailed, at least for a while, due to injuries or illnesses they suffered.
#5 Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels is on this list as the injury he faced came at the height of his career. In 1997, Shawn Michaels had made sure that he had taken over the mantle of the biggest WWE Superstar at the time. His feud against Bret Hart and the memory of the Montreal Screwjob was still fresh in everyone's mind.
He was the WWE Champion that Vince McMahon needed at the time. He was also the perfect opponent for then-rising WWE superstar, 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin.
This changed completely, however, in 1998. In the first pay-per-view of 1998, Shawn Michaels faced the Undertaker in a Casket Match at the WWE Royal Rumble. What came next was something that no one had expected. Shawn Michaels was badly injured during the match when he landed on the edge of a casket during the match. His vertebrae was damaged and he was in immense pain.
Being the champion performer that he was, he completed the match anyway, and then went on to perform against 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin at WrestleMania. There he dropped his title and retired from the WWE for a four-year period.
It was thought he would never return to in-ring competition. However, he did manage to recover from his injuries and returned in 2002, for what might arguably be called a better 8-year run in the ring.
The injury definitely shortened his career, and he was robbed of some of the best wrestling years of his life. Thankfully this proved a blessing in the long-term -- he managed to get rid of his demons relating to drugs and found God.
When Michaels retired from the WWE, the question on everybody's mind was what would happen to the existence of DX? Triple H, who was largely in Michael's shadow during that the attitude era, took charge and carved a career for himself at the helm of the rebel outfit.
#4 Daniel Bryan
The student follows the path set by the master -- this phrase has never been truer than for Shawn Michaels and Daniel Bryan.
Much like his teacher, Michaels, Daniel Bryan rose through the WWE ranks slowly but surely, winning the hearts of the fans. However, the moment he reached the highest peak, he was brought down to the worst depths.
Throughout his high-flying career, he suffered a number of injuries to his neck and had innumerable concussions. They finally caught up with him, when he was in one of his best runs in WWE.
Daniel Bryan had to take two years away from the ring, during which he worked as the SmackDown Live General Manager. It appeared he would have to leave WWE to get a chance to perform in the ring again. However, just before WrestleMania 34, a miracle took place and Daniel Bryan returned to ring.
Considering how he almost had to retire permanently. He lost two of the best years in his career, and while he is making up for it, those two years will always be something he looks back at with regret.
The 'Yes moment' changed the tide in Bryan's direction. The crowd had grown bored of Cena's unidirectional approach and wanted a newer face to run the show. Bryan fit the bill and the rest is history.
#3 Roman Reigns
A WWE Superstar who has a lot of reason to complain about his illness is 'The Big Dog' Roman Reigns.
Roman Reigns did not have the easiest path to the top of WWE. While WWE seemed eager to book him as the next big star in their company, the WWE Universe was not so eager to accept him in that position.
Even then, it was a long time before he held the WWE Universal Championship. 2 years and 6 months after the Universal Title was first introduced, his path to the Title was finally completed. He defeated Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam after multiple opportunities and won the Universal Championship.
This victory would be an incredibly short-lived one.
Soon after he won the title, Roman Reigns came out on WWE RAW and revealed that he was suffering from Leukemia. He had cancer earlier in life, and it had made a comeback. As a result, he had to take a step away from WWE to recover and fight the disease.
Coming so soon after he finally won the title, this was a huge blow. On top of that, it was a life-threatening disease. He had been fighting the disease for a long time now, and there were rumors talking of his recovery.
Roman returned to the WWE in Feb-2019 and declared that his Leukemia was in remission. He has been unstoppable ever since, teaming up with the wily Paul Heyman to claim the WWE universal title.
Reigns has also turned heel in the process, the first such character change since 2014 and is now ruling the roost in the WWE as one of the brand's top bad guys.
#2 Bret Hart
Bret 'The Hitman' Hart's career is one filled with loss and regret.
He was the best WWE Superstar during his time in the company, as one of the leaders of a new breed of wrestlers, who focused more on technique rather than muscle. He helped WWE during one of their toughest times and had some of the best matches in the company's history against Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold, and his own brother, Owen Hart.
However, when he left after the 'Montreal Screwjob' to go to WCW, things were supposed to be even better for him. After all, the heat from the Montreal Screwjob was sure to see him become their top superstar?
That was not to be. He did not debut in WCW for a while and the heat had died down a little. What was worse, he did not have the best run in the company. Here, just as he was slowly gathering momentum, he entered a match against Bill Goldberg.
Goldberg was known for being notoriously stiff in the ring. A stiff kick saw Bret Hart knocked out with a concussion. It was an injury that Bret Hart would never recover from. The injury was serious and it was ruled he could not continue in the ring. Bret Hart had to retire early, bringing an unceremonious end to an otherwise glorious career.
#1 Edge
Adam 'Edge' Copeland remains one of the most talented wrestlers of all time. The things he did in a WWE ring remains legendary. His accomplishments were enough for anyone to be proud of.
The Hall of Famer was one of the pioneers of the WWE TLC Match, alongside Christian, when the duo took on the Dudley Boyz and The Hardy Boyz.
However, other than being a ridiculously talented tag team performer, Edge had a glorious singles career, where he held each Championship, feuding with the likes of John Cena, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Jeff Hardy, and even Batista, among others.
It appeared that he could only do more in the ring, as he was not that old. In fact, he was looked at as one of the major Superstars then in the company who could help continue to carry WWE.
However, somewhere along the way, the wear and tear of wrestling caught up with him. His neck was badly injured during this time, and an injury he suffered in 2003 during a ladder match finally caught up with him.
In 2011, he announced that he had to retire -- an announcement that shocked fans as it came out of apparently nowhere. He was done in the ring, and the doctors had told him one more bad bump could cripple him for life due to issues with his neck. He had to retire way too early.
The 'Rated R Superstar' made a surprise return to in-ring action during the 2020 Royal Rumble. He did one better the next year when he won the rumble match starting from the #1 positio
There are several other WWE Superstars who had the same or worse fates as these Superstars. Stay tuned to Sportskeeda to find out about 5 Superstars whose careers were cut drastically short due to injuries.
